Sony Pictures announced a slew of release dates for projects that have been previously announced, and some that are just being revealed. Among these new release dates are the long-awaited Bad Boys 3, set for release on February 17, 2017, and another sequel, Bad Boys 4, arriving on July 3, 2019. In total, the studio set release dates for 16 movies between 2016 and 2019, which represent big franchise movies like these sequels and brand new projects as well.

Bad Boys 3 will go up against the final Maze Runner movie, The Maze Runner: The Death Cure on February 17, 2017. It also comes a week after three more high-profile projects, Universal's Fifty Shades Darker, 20th Century Fox's The Mountain Between Us and Warner Bros.' The LEGO Batman Movie. The project has been in development for several years, with the last installment, Bad Boys II, debuting in 2003.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are likely reprising their iconic roles as Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett, but no other cast members have been confirmed. We reported in June that Joe Carnahan is in talks to direct the action sequel and rewrite the script, which was originally written by David Guggenheim (Safe House). Martin Lawrence said back in August that Bad Boys 3 is "close to happening," and now we finally have a release date in place. This is the first we're hearing of Bad Boys 4 moving forward, and it isn't known who is set to write and direct that sequel.

That report from June also revealed that Sony Pictures is trying to lock down Will Smith so Bad Boys 3 will be his next project, after production wraps on the superhero movie he's currently shooting in Toronto, Suicide Squad. It isn't known if that will be the case or not, especially since the actor just signed on to replace Hugh Jackman in Collateral Beauty yesterday. Shooting on Bad Boys 3 will likely begin either at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2016, but a production start date has not been confirmed.

No story details have been given thus far, and it remains unclear whether or not this will be the final time we'll see Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett on the big screen together. What would you like to see happen in Bad Boys 3? Do you think writer-director Joe Carnahan will be able to bring new life into this franchise? Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for more on Bad Boys 3.